FEMA Continues to Support Response Efforts in West Virginia

CHARLESTON, Wv. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is on site in Charleston, W.Va., and through its regional office in Philadelphia, Pa., continues to work in close coordination with the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to support state and local efforts to ensure public health and safety, in response to emergency conditions resulting from a chemical spill in Charleston on Thursday.

At the request of the state, FEMA is continuing to provide supplies to a regional staging area in Charleston.  As of Sunday, FEMA has delivered over 2 million liters of water from its distribution centers in Cumberland and Frederick, Maryland, to the area for use by the state.  FEMA will continue to deliver supplies to the state for distribution, as needed and request.

Friday, President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration for federal disaster assistance to West Virginia to supplement state and local response efforts.  Direct federal assistance is currently available to officials in Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam and Roane counties to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  FEMA is continuing regular on-going dialogue working closely with State officials with the state to ensure there are no unmet needs in helping those impacted by this incident as the response continues through its fourth day.

In support of state and local response efforts, a FEMA liaison, an Incident Management Assistance Team and a Mobile Emergency Response team are on site in Charleston to help coordinate assistance to the state as needed.  In addition, FEMA’s Regional Response Coordination Center in Philadelphia is activated to support coordination efforts and assist in mobilizing resources.

“Each day we are seeing higher stock levels of bottled water in the stores within the communities,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Michael Lapinski. “FEMA will continue to provide bottled water as requested to meet the needs of the state and its citizens, especially vulnerable populations who may have difficulty getting to stores or distribution centers.”  If you need water and can’t get to a distribution site due to accessibility issues, FEMA recommends you contact your local fire, police or emergency manager.

For more information on voluntary donations and how to help, please visit West Virginia’s Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster on Facebook.  Residents can also follow the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management on Twitter and Facebook.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Follow FEMA online at twitter.com/femaregion3, fema.gov/blog, twitter.com/fema, facebook.com/fema, and youtube.com/fema.   Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at twitter.com/craigatfema.  The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

Media Contact: FEMAR3NewsDesk@fema.dhs.gov or 215-931-5597